Return of the Dwemer
by Radon088
Summary: Long ago the Deep Elves vanished from Mundas leaving many questions. Who were they? Where did they go? Why were they so advanced? But the Dark Elves of Morrowind had another question the wisest of them have asked ever since that fateful day in the first Era. "When are they coming back?" Rated M for language and violence, might have sexual situations later but I doubt it.
1. Chapter 1

First things first I don't own the Elder scrolls and as such this story is under the fair usage laws regarding intellectual property.

Long ago the Deep Elves vanished from mundas leaving many questions. Who were they? Where did they go? Why were they so advanced? But the Dark Elves of Morrowind had another question the wisest of them have asked ever since that fateful day in the first Era. "_When are they coming back?"_

Return of the Dwemer

_Hearthfire 1st 190 4E_

_March 29th 2040 AD_

In the stillness that permiated the vast underground cavern that to the local people was known as Blackreach an energetic hum began to rattle the silence. Unnoticed by dormant charus or sleeping falmer a thin blue line split the air just over one of the small stone platforms that ringed the underground lake.

The rift widened slowly until a form stepped from the gap and onto the soil of Mundas. The form was clad in a bright white suit with a large helmit of plastic and glass with a large tube trailing back into the rift from a large white backpack.

The form looked around for a moment taking in the dark surroundings softly lit by lumenescent mushrooms and other exotic flora. Taking another few steps into the dark the form spoke in a language never before heard on the face of Mundas. "Command can you read me?"

"We read you Private Tins, go ahead." Came a voice as if from thin air.

"I've emerged from the gate into some kind of cavern next to an underground lake. Air appears breathable, not getting any major radiation in the area, everything is calm and appears safe. There is clear signs of former habitation, stone and copperish looking metal buildings." The form replied to the voice gazing down at a device attached to the arm of it's gleaming white suit.

"Acknowledged Private, please step back through the gate for the second test." Said the voice. The form quickly did as it was told and the blue rift vanished without a trace.

Moments later the rift appeared again and a stick laden with strange artifice was pushed through. A small lense attached to one of the pieces turned and took in the area before retreating back through the rift. A moment passed before more forms emerged from the glowing gap. Five black forms covered in a black carapace stepped into the dark. Their gazes of reflective glass sweeping bright white lights over one of the most mysterious places on Mundas. They also carried large backpacks and thick metal splints on their limbs that hummed with strange artifice and other odd tools.

"Command this is Griffen op is nominal, send the relay." A form at the fore of their formation with two dark red streaks on his black carapace spoke to the voice and another few moments passed until a wheeled device with several large antennas rolled out onto the smooth stone of the platform.

"Ok folks I want you to spread out and check for hostiles. Remember everything here could possibly kill you just by brushing up against it so don't touch anything." The form known as Griffin spoke to its cohorts and the others answered with varied affirmatives as they stepped from the platform cautiously sweeping strange objects around as if expecting an attack at any time.

Griffin left the platform minutes later after speaking once more to the voice and made his way towards one of the constructions a moderate walk from the platform. Unbeknownst to the forms that silently crept through the darkness, all around them ancient machines guided by forgotten enchantments returned from an ages long sleep, spurned from their rest by the return of those of the blood of their masters.

A loud echoing clunk and a brightening dark is what this meant for the forms as a small artificial sun hanging over a decrepit fortress began surging to life once again.

"What the hell?"

"Captain?"

"What's going on?"

The form known as Griffin was suddenly inundated with panicked calls from it's fellows as hisses and screaches filled the once silent air as slumbering creatures were awakened.

"Holy shit! Contact Contact Contact!"

"Oh God it's the size of a horse!"

"I'm taking fire from arrows, what the hell!"

"Regroup at the gate!" Was all the time Griffin had to say as a dark chitinous arrow glanced off his glass faceplate. He raised the object in his hands and fired a burst of metal shells in the direction the arrow had come from. As he turned and sprinted back towards the blue rift the air lit up with distant sharp thunderclaps as his fellows slew the creatures that had risen to protest the invasion of their adopted home.

Writhing nightmarish insects and hunched elf like creatures surged from their resting places and began assaulting the group. The elf like monstrosities were confident in their ability to destroy the interlopers as they had many times before and the insects mindlessly rallied behind their keepers in a swell of bodies.

But something was different than all the times before. Thunderclaps raged from the objects carried by the invaders that cut down the closest threats mercilessly. Arrows, jaws, and claws glanced off of matt black caripace. Even maces and swords were batted aside by whiring metal exoskeletons. A falmer mage struck one to the ground with an ice spike and even wounded and fallen the invader took it's revenge and splattered the mage against a nearby wall.

"Where the hell were these things hiding !?"

"Dammit! Bastard shot me with a chunk of ice!"

"Get to Tin! Hold on we'll be there soon."

Even as they fought more ferociously than any enemy the falmer had faced they were still falling back to the blue rift. The invaders scrambled for their wounded and struggled to face so many enemies. It was clear the invaders would have to flee if they valued their lives.

"Almost back to the gate. We got Tin?"

"Yessir little bitch is whining like a five year old but we got em. Big hole in his leg."

"Fuck! Captain I'm dry!"

"What the? Now we got robots showing up?"

As the invaders neared the gate another crush of bodies added to the chaos. Gleaming copperish metal shaped by the ancient ancestors of the five rose to their aid, flooding in from every corner of the vast ruin.

"I don't know what we did but this is cool!"

"What the actual fuck!"

"Ouch that looked painful. Big clunky one just boiled a mess of them alive with a jet of steam."

"I'm out too!"

"Shut up and get through the gate!"

The bronze animunculi tore the rear of the falmer apart as the last of the weapons from the invaders held them back. The invaders slipped through one at a time the final one on Mundas, the Captain Griffin paused to look as the last of the falmer were torn to pieces by odd spider like machines before he turned and vanished into the rift.

"God, I hope it isn't like this every time."

***WVW***

**Author's Note: **Well what do you guys think? A bit of a style experiment but I think it worked. If anyone is interested in this continuing just let me know through a review or a PM. Know that if I do continue it will probably shift to a more classic third person perspective. This was interesting but I wouldn't want to do a whole story this way.


	2. Chapter 2

First things first I don't own the Elder scrolls and as such this story is under the fair usage laws regarding intellectual property.

Chapter 1

"Captain Elex Griffin please report to General Tyrin's office. Captain Griffin to General Tyrin's office."

Elex Griffin groaned and spat out his mouth full of toothpaste. "Stupid after action report." He mumbled as he pulled on his brown jumpsuit. The thing was standard for everyone on the base but bizarrely he had always found it to be pretty comfortable. He looked back at himself in the mirror and contemplated the stubble sticking out from his light grey skin and almost went for his razor before thinking better of it. He didn't want to be any more late than he already was.

After quickly running a comb through his rebellious black hair and giving the tips of his pointed ears a scratch he set off down the bland office building like hallways that made up the dormitory building of the O. A. R. facility. The place was a collection of squat plain looking buildings and a large airfield in the middle of miles and miles of empty Arkansas fields. And as Elex walked from the dormitories into the administration building he couldn't help glancing out at the singular desolate road to civilization.

Entering through the front doors of the admin building Elex returned the wave of the pretty ivory haired receptionist. He really had to get around to learning her name...

Anyway, passing the few offices at the front of the building he waved his ID card to the sensor on the door to the section of the building that actually dealt with the administration of the research on the Origin Artifact. As usual the first thing he saw after walking through the three inch thick steel door was two huge photographs. The first was a black and white of the archaeologist who discovered the Origin Artifact and did almost all the preliminary research, Dylir or something was the guys name. The other was a much newer photograph of Catilik the guy who built most of the machine they had used yesterday to go... God knows where. Guy still worked on the base though he was a lot older than in the photo.

After a few turns through labyrinth like halls and a short elevator ride Elex knocked on the door to General Tyrin's office. After a quiet buzz to show the door was unlocked Elex stepped inside and stood at attention in front of the General's desk. "Captain Griffin Reporting as requested Sir." He said as the aging man behind the desk leaned back in his chair and checked his watch.

"Fifteen minutes, be careful Captain might have people thinking you're trying to be on time if this keeps up." General Tyrin said with a bemused expression.

"I'll do my best to dissuade them of that notion Sir." Elex replied holding a perfectly straight face.

The General leaned back and motioned to one of the two chairs across from him. "Why don't you take a seat." Elex quickly sat in one of the chairs, his eyes going to the open folder of the written report from yesterday's mission. "Relax a little Captain I've already read it, in fact there was one thing in particular I wanted to ask you about." Tyrin said as he leaned back in his own chair. "This business with the creatures shooting ice out of their hands."

"Yes Sir, they also created some sort of blue smoke in front of them. They would do that and start walking straight at you like they expected it to keep you from shooting them in the face." Elex replied twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

Tyrin steepled his fingers in thought. "Hmm... And by your best estimate how many of those creatures survived their attack and the retaliation by the unknowns?"

Elex paused to think for just a moment before deciding on the safe answer. "Sir I don't think there is any way to answer that with any accuracy. Those gold robot things were tearing them a new one when I left Sir but there could be a lot more of them hiding God knows where."

Tyrin nodded. "Yes I had the same thought..." He trailed off for a moment looking down at the stack of papers on his desk. "Was the terrain good enough for vehicles?" He asked after several long moments.

"Yes Sir, entry point was on flat stone and the immediately surrounding terrain was mild. Are we going to take a striker through?" Elex asked, curious.

"Afraid not." Tyrin replied barely holding back a sigh. "We're skipping straight to phase two, were just going to have to make up for the scouting as we go."

Elex's eyes widened. "Isn't that a bit reckless Sir? We haven't even managed to secure the area around the exit point."

Tyrin nodded and ran a his fingers through his cropped white hair. Elex could easily tell he was frustrated. "Unfortunately I'm under a lot of pressure from the U.N. to begin the next step immediately. Telling them about yesterday's success was like throwing blood to the sharks. They're doubling the combat contingent and insisting the prefabs and staff all go in the next shot."

"That's nuts! There's no way that's safe." Elex was stunned at the abrupt shift in gears.

Tyrin chuckled. "That's what I told them, and do you know what they said to me?" Elex shook his head slowly. "That if I wanted safe I shouldn't have joined the army." The General's laugh was anything but jovial and he quickly settled back into a serious look. "Captain I'm putting you in command of the combat contingent until Colonel Svesk comes in with the prefabs, civilian, and administrative staff. Your job is to make sure those people stay safe until the Colonel is ready to assume general command of the base and contingent. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir." Elex stood and quickly snapped to attention.

"Good, report to the armory at 04:00 on Monday, dismissed." The General barked before picking up a sheet of paper on his desk.

Stepping out of the office Elex returned to the first floor in a daze. The things learned in that meeting weighed heavily on his mind as he made his way past the security doors. His hand reached out for the door that led outside before he paused and looked over his shoulder towards the pretty receptionist's desk. After a moment he turned around and walked up to the woman who was typing up something on her computer.

"Excuse me ma'am?" Elex called out to get her attention.

"Yes Captain... Griffin?" She replied after her eyes momentarily dipped down to the name tag on his chest.

"You have me at a disadvantage Miss...?" Elex replied.

"Heidil Therma." She replied.

Elex smiled and nodded. "This may seem a bit sudden but... Do you want to get dinner sometime?"

**.WVW.**

Azura, daedric lord of twilight shivered in anticipation, or would have had she been beholden to a mortal form with all of their instincts and involuntary reactions. Never the less what passed as the air in her realm hummed in sympathy with her emotions. Something had happened on Mundas something that would change Nirn forever.

She could sense vague feelings from her brethren, as much as she loathed to call some of them such, and they also hummed in various states of anticipation. Among the most powerful of the feelings Dagon and Molag Bal both were salivating over the opportunities to inflict their certain brands of chaos on what was to come and Hermaeus Mora... well she could only hope he cleaned up when he was done... Those few stood out among a sea of arrogant posturing and resentment for the beings that had once claimed they would surpass the gods.

As for her she could only wait with anticipation and apprehension. The ancient enemies of most of her worshipers were returning but after all what was to come was nothing if not the twilight of Nirn as it had been known.

**.WVW.**

(One week later)

In the darkness and calm of early morning a massive hanger stood open at the end of one of the small airfield's runways. Built specifically for this moment the structure was far stockier than was necessary to just hold up the building. Huge arching beams hid vast arrays of strange devices, computers, and coils of frozen aluminum wiring. At the center of the building a large crystalin device stood, it's bronze base hooked to the devices in the walls via cables strewn about it. Techs and support staff moved between the various devices as a vast column of trucks and military vehicles sat idling on the runway.

"Captain Griffin." A voice shook Elex from his distracted pattern of pacing around nervously and staring at the waiting vehicles. Snapping to attention he was met by the stoic face of General Tyrin. "At ease and good morning Captain." The aging man said before turning around and motioning for someone else behind him. The woman who stepped forward was that special kind of classically beautiful, with perfectly formed symmetrical features, lovely slate grey eyes and a certain blue hue to her skin and dark hair color that pegged her roots to somewhere in Spain. "I wanted to introduce you to Colonel Rahei Svesk." The General grinned at Elex's momentary dumbfounded expression that was rapidly buried beneath several layers of professionalism.

"Colonel, it's an honor." He said with a simple nod as he buried any and all thoughts of Svesk as a female and replaced her image in his mind with the default 'this-is-your-boss-don't-be-a-moron' sign that many used to deal with attractive people in charge.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Captain." Svesk spoke up and returned his nod, Elex was sure he caught a very un-ladylike grin on her face as she turned to look over the assembled vehicles, supplies, and personnel but for the sake of his own sanity booted the image out of his mind with great prejudice. "A shame the man who first stepped through the gate won't be here today." She said turning her now perfectly straight face back to the two men.

"I'm sure Private Tins laments his inability to attend and join you on this great adventure from his comfortable hospital room, while nurses wait on him hand and foot." Tyrin replied with a smile.

"I'm sure the nurses will ship him back to us in a crate once he becomes too much of a headache." Elex added shifting his helmet to his other arm while the two superior officers shared a short laugh.

"Captain, you should probably check in with your squad, only about fifteen minutes till the technical staff says we'll be ready." General said giving Elex a nod. "The Colonel and the civilians will join you within the hour."

"Good idea Sir I'll make sure they're ready and waiting." Elex replied before jogging off to the staging area just under the lip of the hanger.

"See you on the other side." Rahei called out to him. Elex returned her wave before slipping between two waiting vehicles and slipping out of sight. A short jog later between rushing techs and idling vehicles he found himself walking up behind three people dressed in black combat gear similar to his.

"Everyone ready to go?" Elex called as he came to a stop next to the group.

"Daddy Hirel won't stop pulling my hair!" Came an exaggeratedly whine from behind the reflective glass faceplate of the one who was crouched in front of the other two.

Elex could only stare at her. "...Noa?" He asked, doing his best not to let his eye twitch too much.

"It was supposed to be a joke... Don't make this awkward." The crouched Noa stood and turned around with a huff.

Hirel chucked and got slugged in the arm for his trouble.

"Don't make me turn this multibillion dollar project around." Elex said fighting back a laugh as Hirel rubbed his aching shoulder.

"See at least the Captain knows how to play along with a joke jerk!" Noa kicked Hirel in the knee prompting him to bounce around clutching the offended joint in pain.

" Noa stop abusing poor Hirel we need him to shoot things later." Elex said finally letting out a small chuckle at the antics of the pair. "How about you Gren? You ready for this?" Elex asked the last member of the group who was merely standing aside and watching behind his faceplate.

"Yes Sir." Gren answered before turning his gaze to the crystalline device in the center of the hanger.

A warning siren broke the calm and Elex quickly slipped his helmet on. The other three members of his squad were joined by dozens of other infantry who had been mingling with the techs and people in the various vehicles. A pair of Strikers pulled up in front of the infantry ready to spearhead the move through the gate.

There were no big speeches or declarations and about ten minutes after the siren there was a simple radio message that the operation was about to execute and two minutes after that the air split open and the strikers charged ahead followed quickly by Elex and the rest of the infantry.

**Author's Note:** Well here it is. I'm pretty excited to get the ball rolling on this more officially. PM me if you have any pressing questions that can't wait for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own the Elder scrolls and as such this story is under the fair usage laws regarding intellectual property.

"Captain?"

"I know."

Elex stared through the magnified view provided by his helmet. Upon reaching the surface the attention of the four man team was immediately drawn to the light a fire at the base of the frozen mountain they had emerged on. Nearly two miles down the slope a pair of crumbling towers connected by a stone bridge spanned a river next to a worn and half cobbled road. On the road a burning carriage lay next to several corpses. Obviously an act of banditry from the looks of the enormous armored men who were picking through a pile of various objects. What had the group tense however was the figure wrapped in a heavy cloak that lay tied next to the stone wall of the tower.

"Those guys have swords... and that one's got a great big hammer..." Hirel helpfully stated the obvious.

"I'm aware of the situation... Try the radio again." Elex replied flatly.

"Wells Base this is surface team, if receiving please respond..." Hirel spoke into the radio before shaking his head. "Yeah, they can't hear us, no wonder with a few feet of stone and metal and how deep they are."

"So we going to do something or what?" Came the impatient voice of Noa as she paced back and forth around the lip of the ledge they were crouched on.

"Yes, Gren, you and Hirel guard the lift, Noa you're with me." Elex said as he quickly started off down the mountain. Noa quickly followed after a hasty set of acknowledgments from the team. Elex quickly hopped down a steep incline of treacherous rocks, the pace of the climb down only possible thanks to the powered exoskeleton that took the weight of his armor and cushioned the impacts as he dropped from ledge to ledge.

"Whats the plan?" Noa asked over the radio as they finally reached the base of the mountain after a nearly hour long climb and began looking for a good place to cross the river.

Elex paused to think for a moment. "I don't want to engage them, the chances of starting something complicated are too great." He said as he quickly waded across a shallow area in the fast running waters. "Were just going to 'investigate' the disturbance and if something happens... we can defend ourselves."

"I like the way you think." Noa answered as she scrambled up the steep river bank and into the road. Elex followed a moment later and the two of them quickly closed distance with the tower.

It was only a few moments after they got within two hundred yards before the men noticed their approach. One of the men set aside the small crate he was moving into the tower to quickly stride in their direction. Elex could see Noa tensing up out of the corner of his eye and no wonder! He had known they were big but he hadn't realized just how big the men were from afar. Elex stood at a fairly average four, six, and he barely came up to the middle of the barbarian's chest!

The man shouted some strange language at the two of them and pulled a heavy looking mace from his belt. The bandit was strange in other ways besides his great height. His skin was a strange shade of pinkish tan and his ears were blunt and round. It reminded Elex a bit of a monkey. He was also grotesquely muscled and somehow seemed perfectly at home in the cold weather.

The man shouted at them again and brandished his mace, raising it high above his head. Elex and Noa silently glanced at each other and came to a stop a fair distance from the man. Apparently this was the wrong thing to do as the giant monkey man charged at them the moment they had taken their eyes off him. He bellowed as he ran and they both held fire, waiting for an unmistakable act of aggression. When the man finally reached the pair he swung for Noa's head and missed by a mile as she quickly ducked the slow, almost lazy swing.

Elex, not standing on ceremony simply raised his weapon and put a round through the side of the bandit's chest, downing him instantly.

The other bandits around the tower already wary of the situation rushed out of the tower or began shooting at them with bows. To their great surprise the second man who had been picking through the goods of the burned wagon had green skin and thick tusks poking from his bottom jaw under a horned helmet.

Elex and Noa snapped up their weapons and fired back, every shot striking lethal locations as the guided ammunition did it's work. When an archer would duck around a stone or around the edge of the tower the bullet would curve to strike them based on a computerized 'best guess' of where they would be.

Soon the last bandit fell from atop the bridge and into the rushing waters of the river with a heart pierced and shredded by the guided rifle rounds. The two soldiers quickly moved ahead with their weapons raised, searching for any hostiles that still laid in wait. The inside of the tower was clear and Elex quickly crouched next to the bound figure.

"Well that was easy." Noa quipped as she kept a close eye on the other tower across the bridge.

Elex didn't respond as he reached out to shake the, what was now obviously a woman awake. The woman stirred and sat up, still in her binds before moments later being cut out of them. She said something quietly in that same language neither of them could understand and got to her feet, cloak still shrouding her face in shadow.

Just like the bandit men the woman was incredibly tall, towering nearly a whole head above Elex. Something the giant took little notice of as she stumbled to the two burning corpses and sank to her knees. It was obvious what was happening even before the wail of despair and the sobbing.

"Well done Captain." Came the voice of Hirel over the radio. "Saw the whole thing."

"Shame we couldn't have gotten here sooner." Elex replied.

"Don't beat yourself up, its not like we even knew this was going on up here." Hirel said his voice gaining a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah, sorry." Elex replied

Elex and Noa stood solemnly out of the way as the woman grieved for the two people for some time, protecting her for these few minutes was the least they could do. After a while she stood and turned to gather the remains of her things. They watched as the unknown woman rummaged through the wreckage, the tower, and even the corpses of the bandits. When she was done the cloaked woman finally turned their way. Elex heard Noa shift nervously as they both caught the glint of red eyes that seemed to glow from beneath the hood the woman wore.

The woman seemed to be able to sense the tension as she held up a hand to calm the two soldiers as she reached up to pull back her hood. As the fabric settled around her neck, Elex heard Noa gasp in shock as the face revealed was of a gaunt and red eyed but fairly normal looking woman.

"What the hell is wrong with her eyes?" Noa took a nervous step backward prompting the woman to start talking at them again in her strange language.

"Just be calm private, I don't think she is going to hurt us." Elex said making a soothing gesture with his hand. The three of them traded silent looks back and forth for a moment before Elex had an idea. Reaching up he popped the seal on his helmet and removed it slinging it under his arm.

The woman had her own moment of astonishment as she stared at him. After a moment of gaping the woman took a few large strides towards Elex causing Noa to raise her weapon slightly. Elex waved her off but was caught off guard by the woman's face only an inch away from his. She seemed particularly interested in his own eyes as she stared intently into his pair of pale blues. The entire time she was jabbering in her language and making gestures with her hands and even reaching out to turn his head this way and that.

"Noa, why don't you take off your helmet, split her attention a little, I'm getting a bit weirded out here." Elex said pulling his face out of the woman's hands. Noa nodded slowly before reaching up to pop the seal on her own helmet revealing very pale grey skin, plain black eyes and light brown hair cut in a short bob. As Elex expected the woman immediately moved off to give Noa the same treatment. Noa shot him a searing glare as the woman moved her head back and forth.

"Ah, ah, hands off lady!" Noa squawks when the woman tried to touch her ears.

The woman backed off and looked at the two soldiers before placing a hand on her chest and repeating the words "Suvaris Atheron" slowly over and over.

"Well I guess we know her name at least." Noa said stepping back and re-donning her helmet.

"Well Suvaris Atheron-" Elex began getting a smile from the woman. "Elex." He said returning the gesture. "Noa" He said pointing to the other present member of his team.

"Elex... Noa." She parroted pointing to the two of them.

"Good." Elex said giving Suvaris a thumbs up.

Suvaris glanced between the two soldiers again before motioning for them to follow her. Elex shook his head no. "I'm sorry but we can't come with you. Good luck getting wherever it is you're going though." Elex said before turning back towards the mountain. "And don't even think about following us."

_**Author's Note: **_Well here we go, chapter two! Things are getting a little more interesting now.


End file.
